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SOLO INJE! ... WITH ENTHRALLING DRAW!

26/02/2019 07:42:00 BY Lwazi's Pandora's Boxs

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My dearest readers ... Ordinarily early tournament draws are mundane football events but yesterday’s EswatiniBank Cup Last 16 draw was so well-attended, every Tom, Dick and his uncle Harry were present.

Even Dolly Shongwe was there, never mind the woman who makes my heart sing like a canary whose immediate arrival touched my heart-strings in a special way. I digress.

Programme director Simanga Nhleko, the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), tried his damndest to ease the tension which was so thick it could have been cut even with a blunt knife.

Still the tension was palpable and emotions ran high especially after Green Mamba, winners of the very first EswatiniBank Cup in 2004 and champions again in 2012, were drawn against perennial opponents at this stage, Ludzeludze Killers. Unlike in the Under-20 draw, the senior tournament draw used the seeding format based on the end of the first round MTN log standings, and it resulted in a plethora of repeated meetings between opponents in the tournament’s 16-year-chequered history.

Previous meetings in other competitions, in particular the MTN league as recently as the past weekend, added ‘spice’ to the already succulent ‘stew’ which is the EswatiniBank Cup. Take the case of a Mbabane Highlanders versus Matsapha United pairing. It will be the fourth time the two sides have crossed paths this season alone and the previous three outings have ended with the ‘Black Bull’ emerging winners. Then you have the Pigg’s Peak derby – Black Swallows versus Malanti Chiefs.

Black Swallows Chairman Charles Matsebula could not have put it with such alluring clarity when he said, bayojuba ngenkomazi. Gagagagagaga ... This one will not be for the faint-hearted given Pigg’s Peak Black Swallows history in the tournament and their current devastating form, especially gifted striker Allen Mabuza, who netted a brace in his team’s 2-1 win over Red Lions. Black Swallows, lest we forget, still hold a record of having played the longest football game in history with Mbabane Swallows in the self-same EswatiniBank Cup, which was not only played three times but even lasted over three hours. I will spare you the details why this was the case but how this game never made it into the Guinness Book of World records remains a mystery to me. Those are the wonders of the EswatiniBank Cup!

But without any iota of doubt, the pick of the last 16 draw is the repeat of the past weekend’s league meeting between hub giants, Manzini Wanderers against Manzini Sundowns which will set the tone for the forthcoming weekend games. The two Manzini sides have met twice this season, Sundowns winning the first round league meeting 2-1 courtesy of a late 85th minute goal by Reagan Kangumbu on October 23, 2018 at Mavuso Sports Centre. The ‘Weslians’ avenged the first round loss on Sunday with the mercurial wing wizard, Mike Dombo netting a glorious brace which ended the maroon and white side’s losing streak and moved them to the eighth position on the log standings.

Dombo is proving to be an influential player in Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati’s recuperating side which still lacks a creative midfielder and a target man worth the tag. Sundowns, on the other hand, unsurprisingly lie tenth on the log standings after changing coaches faster than Neymar Junior changes his hairstyle. Besides the chairman, Mark Carmichael, the team’s PRO, Muzi Matsenjwa, is the longest serving official at the club and the coaching merry-go-round has seen four coaches being churned out at ‘Basop IKappa Kappa’ even before the season has reached its half-way line

. Even the trigger happy South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) outfit Chippa United boss, Siviwe Mpengesi, who fires coaches such that he probably no longer knows the difference between ‘hired’ and ‘fired’, would be left green with envy at Sundowns playing musical chairs with coaches! Ernest Mavuso, the same coach who trained Sundowns in the morning and was unveiled as Matsapha United coach in the afternoon, has bounced back at ‘Basop IKappa Kappa’, for the umpteenth time.

No doubt, the inconsistency in the coaching department has not brought stability in the Sundowns team which, needless to say, had a fairly good start in the league having won against Manzini Wanderers (2-1 on October 23), Moneni Pirates (1-0 on November 7) and Swallows (1-0 on December 13).

The EswatiniBank Cup, obviously, is different kettle of fish. Formbook counts for nothing. You can predict the Sundowns/Wanderers clash at your own peril. Anything is possible though history says Wanderers will be favourites to go through after having beaten ‘Basop IKappa Kappa’ in the quarter-final stage of the self-same EswatiniBank Cup last year 9-8 in sudden death penalties at Somhlolo National Stadium.

Having said that, the draw itself overall was fair and it promises to give us scintillating football, glut of goals, drama and shocks which have become the trademark of this tournament which holds a special place in the hearts of every liSwati. No doubt, SOLO INJE!